Key Areas for Bat Conservation in Latin America and the Caribbean (AICOM?s and SICOM?s)

BARQUEZ R.M.; AGUIRRE, LUIS F.

San José

Congreso; 16th International Bat Research Conference & 43rd North American Symposium on Bat Research; 2013

The North American Society for Bat Research

Latin America harbors a vast diversity of ecosystems, several of them currently considered as biodiversity hotspots, with high number of species and endemism?s. Since its creation, and today including the joint efforts of 19 countries in the region, the Latin American Bat Conservation Network (RELCOM) has been worried for the conservation of the bats of the region and, in order to diminish the extinction of species and their related ecosystem services, has stimulated the recognition of sites containing threatened species, as a good measure of conservation. We promoted the creation in the region of a network of Key Areas for Bat Conservation in Latinamerica and the Caribbean, each area named as AICOM or SICOM, to include Areas and Sites, respectively, to serve as conservation units. Until now, and since the beginning of the project in 2011, we have recognized, or are in the process of recognition, 18 AICOMs and nine SICOMs, for seven countries of South America and the Caribbean (Argentina, Bolivia, Bonaire, Cuba, Ecuador, Paraguay and Venezuela). These areas include 105 species, and its recognition by RELCOM represents a tool that can be used for legal actions on behalf of the conservation of the sites and the species. We believe that increasing the number of areas recognized by RELCOM will be responsible for a wide and efficient network of conservation sites in Latin America and the Caribbean.